Companion: Senate Bill 108 Author: Ellis
Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program that includes training
for certain youths and young veterans.
Actions:(descending date order)
Description
Comment
Date
Time
Journal Page
H
Considered in Calendars
04/17/2009
H
Committee report sent to Calendars
03/20/2009
H
Committee report printed and distributed
03/19/2009
11:15 PM
H
Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
03/19/2009
860
H
Reported favorably as substituted
03/16/2009
H
Committee substitute considered in committee
03/16/2009
H
Considered in formal meeting
03/16/2009
H
Left pending in committee
03/09/2009
H
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
03/09/2009
H
Committee substitute considered in committee
03/09/2009
H
Considered in public hearing
03/09/2009
H
Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
03/09/2009
H
Referred to Technology, Economic Development & Workforce
Description of Bill: The biennial general session of the Texas Legislature has been occurring semester, and a great way to cover it would be to track a special piece of legislation as it winds its way through the bill making process in the Texas Legislature. Now choosing a bill was tough, for there are several interesting bills in the Texas Legislature, but I was able to manage and choose one bill. Listed as H.B. 516, this bill is ‘Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program. Bill H.B. 516 was first filed by its Primary Author Honorable Mark Strama, Chair, House Committee on Technology, Economic Development & Workforce on the 9th of January in the concurring year of 2009. This bill was introduced with a short caption that read as follows: ‘Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program.’ What this means is that the bill authorizes the use of the Texas enterprise fund to make grants to the Texas Workforce Commission to implement training programs for the green job skills. See, ‘The Governor's Competitiveness Council has estimated that two-thirds of all new energy jobs created in Texas over the next 10 years will be in the renewable energy sector,’ and ‘the comptroller of public accounts has estimated that 111,000 jobs will be lost in Texas in 2009,’ therefore, ‘the ability of the state to devote resources to the retraining and redirection of the workforce will be an important aspect of Texas' future.’ That is where the bill, C.S.H.B. 516, comes in, ‘the green jobs development fund,’ available through this bill, ‘will act as a bridge Texas needs to put people to work in a growing and sustainable industry,’ such as the “green economy”. ‘The legislature must examine new and innovative ways to create jobs in a declining national economy. The green jobs development fund will allow Texas to maintain its economic competitiveness in an increasingly diverse energy market.’ In creating the ‘skills development fund, H.B. 516’ will ‘addresses nine different categories of jobs in the "green economy": energy efficient building, renewable energy, energy storage technologies, biofuels, waste recycling techniques, products recycling techniques, energy efficiency assessments, manufacturing of sustainable products, and water conservation and efficiency.’ ‘The training will enhance trade skills and expertise in everything from basic energy efficiency home improvements to complex manufacturing assembly.’ ‘The green jobs development fund is just the appropriate tool that the legislature can provide to our state’s workforce to’ help deal and cope with ‘the immediate need for new and prolonged job creation in a viable and growing industry.’ In order for a bill to become a law it must be analyzed carefully to identify all that the bill authorizes or requirements that the bill may claim. ‘C.S.H.B. 516 amends the Government Code to create the green job skills development fund and training program.’ ‘The bill establishes the purpose of the green job skills development fund and training program,’ and ‘that the green job skills development fund is an account in the general revenue fund that is composed of legislative appropriations, money received from the Texas enterprise fund, gifts, grants, donations, and matching funds, and other money required by law to be deposited in the account.’ H.B. 516 requires the Texas Workforce Commission to establish a green job skills grant program, funded by the development fund, through which the commission may award grants for the implementation, expansion, and operation of green job skills training programs hosted by a regional partnership that presents a plan to implement training programs that lead trainees to economic self-sufficiency and career pathways and includes at least one: university, college, or technical school, or other nonprofit workforce training provider; one chamber of commerce, local workforce agency, local employer, or other public or private participating entity; one economic development authority; and one community or faith-based nonprofit organization that works with one or more targeted populations. The training program must give help to an eligible individual in acquiring the appropriate education, skills training, and labor market information to enhance the individual's employability in green industries, and to support in the development of a highly skilled and productive workforce in green industries. The bill authorizes a training program to receive funding for a period not to exceed three years and to use grant funds for support services, administrative costs, costs related to hiring instructors and purchasing equipment, and tuition assistance. Plus on top of having to balance and stretch the funds, the applicant must provide to the commission its plan to continue to operate the training program even after the grant expires. Aside from the applicant applying for grants programs, the C.S.H.B 516 also requires that 20 percent of the funds available for grant programs to be reserved for job skills training programs that serve the unemployed and individuals whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill requires a grant recipient to submit a report to the commission that contains the following information: the number of participants who entered the program; the demographics of the participants; services received by participants; the amount of program spending per participant; program completion rates; factors determined to interfere significantly with program participation or completion; the average wage at placement; and any post-employment support services provided. And then the commission must submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the House of Representatives that includes a summary of all information submitted to the commission by grant recipients. With the economy decliningand the number of unemployment increasing this will be an interesting bill to get passed into a law. And although this bill has only gone through two stages out of the seven, it looks as if it might go through. The stages C.S.H.B. 516 has gone through have been Stage 1: Bill filed by Strama on 1/9/2009 and Stage 2; Bill reported out of House committee on Technology, Economic Development & Workforce with votes of 7 Ayes, 0 Nays, 0 Present Not Voting, 2 Absent on 3/16/2009. With hope and luck this bill will victoriously reach all seven stages of the bill making process and become a law that will be beneficial to the citizens of the state of Texas. Work Cited: Strama, "Bill Analysis." Texas Legislature Online Text. 17 April 2009. Texas Legislature Online. 1 May 2009 <http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB516>.
Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program.
Primary Author
- Strama
Joint Authors
- Anchia
- Lucio III
- Menendez
- Chavez
Companion: Senate Bill 108
Author: Ellis
Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program that includes training
for certain youths and young veterans.
Actions: (descending date order)
Text:
Bill Act
Fiscal Note
Bill Analysis
Description of Bill:
The biennial general session of the Texas Legislature has been occurring semester, and a great way to cover it would be to track a special piece of legislation as it winds its way through the bill making process in the Texas Legislature. Now choosing a bill was tough, for there are several interesting bills in the Texas Legislature, but I was able to manage and choose one bill. Listed as H.B. 516, this bill is ‘Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program.
Bill H.B. 516 was first filed by its Primary Author Honorable Mark Strama, Chair, House Committee on Technology, Economic Development & Workforce on the 9th of January in the concurring year of 2009. This bill was introduced with a short caption that read as follows: ‘Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program.’ What this means is that the bill authorizes the use of the Texas enterprise fund to make grants to the Texas Workforce Commission to implement training programs for the green job skills. See, ‘The Governor's Competitiveness Council has estimated that two-thirds of all new energy jobs created in Texas over the next 10 years will be in the renewable energy sector,’ and ‘the comptroller of public accounts has estimated that 111,000 jobs will be lost in Texas in 2009,’ therefore, ‘the ability of the state to devote resources to the retraining and redirection of the workforce will be an important aspect of Texas' future.’ That is where the bill, C.S.H.B. 516, comes in, ‘the green jobs development fund,’ available through this bill, ‘will act as a bridge Texas needs to put people to work in a growing and sustainable industry,’ such as the “green economy”. ‘The legislature must examine new and innovative ways to create jobs in a declining national economy. The green jobs development fund will allow Texas to maintain its economic competitiveness in an increasingly diverse energy market.’ In creating the ‘skills development fund, H.B. 516’ will ‘addresses nine different categories of jobs in the "green economy": energy efficient building, renewable energy, energy storage technologies, biofuels, waste recycling techniques, products recycling techniques, energy efficiency assessments, manufacturing of sustainable products, and water conservation and efficiency.’ ‘The training will enhance trade skills and expertise in everything from basic energy efficiency home improvements to complex manufacturing assembly.’ ‘The green jobs development fund is just the appropriate tool that the legislature can provide to our state’s workforce to’ help deal and cope with ‘the immediate need for new and prolonged job creation in a viable and growing industry.’
In order for a bill to become a law it must be analyzed carefully to identify all that the bill authorizes or requirements that the bill may claim. ‘C.S.H.B. 516 amends the Government Code to create the green job skills development fund and training program.’ ‘The bill establishes the purpose of the green job skills development fund and training program,’ and ‘that the green job skills development fund is an account in the general revenue fund that is composed of legislative appropriations, money received from the Texas enterprise fund, gifts, grants, donations, and matching funds, and other money required by law to be deposited in the account.’ H.B. 516 requires the Texas Workforce Commission to establish a green job skills grant program, funded by the development fund, through which the commission may award grants for the implementation, expansion, and operation of green job skills training programs hosted by a regional partnership that presents a plan to implement training programs that lead trainees to economic self-sufficiency and career pathways and includes at least one: university, college, or technical school, or other nonprofit workforce training provider; one chamber of commerce, local workforce agency, local employer, or other public or private participating entity; one economic development authority; and one community or faith-based nonprofit organization that works with one or more targeted populations. The training program must give help to an eligible individual in acquiring the appropriate education, skills training, and labor market information to enhance the individual's employability in green industries, and to support in the development of a highly skilled and productive workforce in green industries. The bill authorizes a training program to receive funding for a period not to exceed three years and to use grant funds for support services, administrative costs, costs related to hiring instructors and purchasing equipment, and tuition assistance. Plus on top of having to balance and stretch the funds, the applicant must provide to the commission its plan to continue to operate the training program even after the grant expires. Aside from the applicant applying for grants programs, the C.S.H.B 516 also requires that 20 percent of the funds available for grant programs to be reserved for job skills training programs that serve the unemployed and individuals whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill requires a grant recipient to submit a report to the commission that contains the following information: the number of participants who entered the program; the demographics of the participants; services received by participants; the amount of program spending per participant; program completion rates; factors determined to interfere significantly with program participation or completion; the average wage at placement; and any post-employment support services provided. And then the commission must submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the House of Representatives that includes a summary of all information submitted to the commission by grant recipients.
With the economy declining and the number of unemployment increasing this will be an interesting bill to get passed into a law. And although this bill has only gone through two stages out of the seven, it looks as if it might go through. The stages C.S.H.B. 516 has gone through have been Stage 1: Bill filed by Strama on 1/9/2009 and Stage 2; Bill reported out of House committee on Technology, Economic Development & Workforce with votes of 7 Ayes, 0 Nays, 0 Present Not Voting, 2 Absent on 3/16/2009. With hope and luck this bill will victoriously reach all seven stages of the bill making process and become a law that will be beneficial to the citizens of the state of Texas.
Work Cited:
Strama, "Bill Analysis." Texas Legislature Online Text. 17 April 2009. Texas Legislature Online. 1 May 2009 <http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB516>.